San Mateo County sets Taser review after 3 deaths
A local cardiologist will join San Mateo County sheriff ’s officials, counsel from the American Civil Liberties Union, and legal advisers for the company that manufactures Tasers to talk about the stun guns Monday in light of three recent cases where unarmed men died after getting tased by law enforcement officers.
The “study session” will come nearly two months after San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine proposed creating a committee to organize a public meeting examining the use of stun guns following the tasing deaths of three men in a 10-month period in 2018. All three men struggled with mental health issues.
“The ... special meeting will not address those specific incidents,” reads a San Mateo County press statement released on Tuesday. Supervisors Carole Groom and Pine “organized the edu-
cational presentations representing several perspectives to help inform the Board and public about the devices.”
Michelle Durand, a county spokeswoman, told The Chronicle that supervisors heard concerns about the tasing deaths from the community at several board meetings during public comment sessions.
“As a result, they wanted a public event at which everybody could learn more about them,” Durand said of stun guns. “The incidents definitely played a significant role in the board’s decision to hold the special meeting.”
In the first case, on Jan. 16, 2018, Warren Ragudo, 34, was handcuffed, lying on his stomach and weighed down by two Daly City police officers in his family’s living room when a third officer, Bruce Perdomo, tased him in the back, his family said in a civil suit against the department. Ragudo died an hour later from cardiopulmonary arrest from “agitated delirium, physical exertion, prone restraint and stun gun applications while under the influence of methamphetamine toxicity,” according to his autopsy. His family had called police to the home in hopes to get Ragudo hospitalized to address his mental health concerns and drug use, his family said.
Seven months later on Aug. 13, Ramzi Saad, 55, fell to the ground on his stomach after getting tased at least twice by Redwood City police Officer Oscar Poveda, according to a statement by San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. The officer handcuffed Saad and two other officers pushed Saad to the ground and held him there, Wagstaffe wrote in his statement. Saad lost consciousness and later died from cardiac arrest from physical exertion, physical restraint and the Taser, according to an autopsy. Saad, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, was acting erratically when police responded to Saad’s mother’s residence, Wagstaffe said.
On Oct. 3, Pacifica resident Chinedu Okobi, 36, went into cardiac arrest and died after being tased by two San Mateo County deputies, Wagstaffe said. Deputies say Okobi attacked them after he walked in and out of traffic in Millbrae, but family members who reviewed roughly 30 minutes of video of the incident — compiled from surveillance footage, dashboard cameras and witnesses’ cell phones — said a deputy approached Okobi for no discernible reason before Okobi was tackled, beaten with a police baton and tased. He had struggled with mental health issues at the time of his death, his family said.
The board oversees the Sheriff ’s Office budgets, but has no authority over local police departments.
The Sheriff ’s Office Taser policy was requested by the ACLU of Northern California in October after Okobi’s death.
Wagstaffe declined to file charges against the Redwood City and Daly City police officers involved in tasing Ragudo and Saad. Okobi’s death is still under investigation.
The study session is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the Hall of Justice at 400 County Center in Redwood City.
Members of the public may speak in person during the public comment portion of the meeting, submit written statements to the board at the meeting, or submit written comments in advance to BoardFeedback@smcgov.org.
The session will be livestreamed on the county’s agenda management website at https://sanmateocounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx